 Thank you, Dr. Thornberry, for the invitation to address you today. I'm sorry I can't be with you in Monterey because really, who doesn't want to be in Monterey? But the course that you're about to begin has been a year in the making, and we hope that it's going to provide you with an intensive introduction to energy policy and its critical role in our future defense challenges. As members of the Navy and Marine Corps team, you know that being there matters. Defense is what we do, day in and day out, all over the globe, and it's unique to our Navy and Marine Corps. When North Korea threatens a missile launch, our ships with ballistic missile defense capabilities are there. When the earthquake hit Haiti in 2010 and the tsunami hit Japan in 2011, we had Navy ships delivering relief within hours because they were already there. When Marines on the ground in Afghanistan call for close air support, our pilots and aircraft are there. Being there requires the right people with the right tools in the right place, not just at the right time, but all the time. To accomplish those things, I focus on four priorities – people, platforms, power, and partnerships. Some people ask why is power or energy in there, but it ought to be obvious. Without the energy to power our platforms, we might not be there when it matters. What kind of fuel we buy and how we use it are strategic and tactical questions and a potential vulnerability. Our ability to get it and to pay for it impacts our national security and our ability to be there to provide for our national defense. The Department of Defense is the largest single consumer of fossil fuels on earth. The vast majority of our energy in the Navy and Marine Corps comes from fossil fuels, specifically oil. Oil is the ultimate global commodity, and it's traded sometimes on speculation and rumor. Because we purchase our fuel on the open market, this world-priced oil has a major impact on our budget. Because every time the cost of a barrel of oil goes up a dollar, it costs the Navy and Marine Corps $30 million in additional fuel costs. In just fiscal years 11 and 12, our fuel bill was almost $1 billion higher than we had budgeted for because the price of oil went up quicker than anyone had anticipated. Now that money comes out of operating budgets and training accounts, and we can't afford it. To help address these fiscal threats, military vulnerabilities and impact on our combat effectiveness, in 2009 I established energy goals for the Department of the Navy. These goals drive the Navy and Marine Corps to strengthen our combat capability by using energy more efficiently, but also by diversifying our sources of power. Exploring new ways to power our ships is absolutely nothing new from the Navy. From sail to coal, coal to oil, and pioneering nuclear, the United States Navy has led in changing energy use. All the technology, all the engineering, and all the chemistry is great. But I think the most important part of this initiative is how quickly sailors and marines have understood and embraced this change. In your seminars you'll hear about the sailors aboard Makon Island, the marines using X-Fob equipment in Afghanistan, and the Navy and Marine Corps team in the Great Green Fleet at Rempack. It's a cultural change that's happening on the deck plates as sailors and marines come to grips with the fact that these programs help them become more effective war fighters. It helps them do their jobs better. Getting locked into things because either it's the way we've always done it or we've never done it that way isn't a rationale. It's an excuse. If you join the Navy or Marine Corps, it means you've got that spirit that makes you want to see what's out over the horizon. You want to see what comes next. You want to be a part of that change. That same spirit creates sailors and marines who look for new and innovative solutions who want to find better ways to do things. That's why you have been hand selected for this program. Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert, Command out James Amos, and I need your personal attention and your leadership on these issues. We need forward thinkers to drive this transformation in the culture of the Navy and Marine Corps regarding the importance of energy in our role as war fighters. Energy is not just an issue for the far future. Or just for the young officers and policy experts that attend NPS in our new energy master's degree program. It's an issue for every one of us. We need your leadership, innovative thinking, and hard questions to ensure we begin addressing these challenges now, today. So the four priorities I talked about, people, platforms, power, and partnerships are being used as the guide in how we make our decisions. The energy to fuel our ships and fuel our bases is a central challenge for our future, just as it has been for our past. It helps guarantee our presence, and it helps guarantee our ability to respond and give the President flexibility and options for any crisis that could arise. That spirit of adventure, that willingness and wanting to know what's over the horizon is the reason that our Navy and Marine Corps remain on the cutting edge of innovative ideas. Those are the characteristics that we need you to bring to the fleet. It will help ensure that the Navy and Marine Corps remain the most formidable fighting force the world has ever known and continue to protect the American people and do the work of this country around the world. Good luck. Good luck in your studies. From the Navy, Semper Fortis. From the Marine Corps, Semper Fidelis.